A Bear Called Paddington

Sprung from the page of the Michael Bond book in 1958, Paddington bounced onto the big screen in 2014, rekindling the nation’s love for the young Peruvian bear who travelled to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a home.

Paddington's story is very close to FARA's heart (fara means ‘a family for those without’) and when FARA Kids in Richmond Bridge was donated a beautiful original Paddington Bear in September 2014, we knew he was a very special gift and it was worth making every effort to find him a home with someone who really wanted him.

We decided to auction Paddington Bear on eBay to ensure we raised as much money as possible whilst also taking the opportunity to raise awareness of FARA Charity. As planned, the eBay auction coincided with the film premiere (the auction ended just after the Paddington film was released on 29th November 2014) and well-timed marketing news of the auction quickly spread on social media. We were thrilled when the NSPCC - responsible for the fundraising Paddington Bear trail - shared the tweet about our auction to their 140,000 #Twitter followers! We were sad to say goodbye to Paddington but he raised an incredible sum with all proceeds from the sale going directly to the FARA Foundation.

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